Can opener and anti-splash shield combination



Jan. 22, 1957 R. w. LUCE 2,778,102

CAN OPENER AND ANTI-SPLASH SHIELD COMBINATION Filed Jan. 11, 1955 INVENTOR v R 22150"! V0; L 006 BY V I E h d), m)

ATTORNEY A OB NER ANTLSBLASH SHIELD Richard Luce, Southport, Conn. enlis ees J sse's S r al Na. 81 22 4 Claims; (Cl. 30-16) This invention'relates to can openers, and more par.- ticularly to one for use specifically in opening cans the contents of which are or may be under pressure and hence may tend to spurt or splash out of the can when the latter'is opened. It is contemplated that the opener will be particularly usefulfin connectionwith opening cans containing beerl More particularlyv the invention is concernedwithsuch a can: opener having combined therewith a shield for preventing the contents of. a can being'opened from spurting or splashing therefrom'onto the user'of the opener or surrounding'objects. The shield is designed rather to confine anyv emerging portion of the contents ofthe can to the immediate vicinity; of the opening formed in the can.

The cornbinatidii with airopener of the type described of a shield for-the;purposedescribed is notinovel, many such; combinations having heretofore been developed. None the prior combinations, however, has. in my opiniorr' been entirely satisfactory for one reason or another. Perhaps'the most seriousdis'advantag e ofthe prior openers provided with anti-splash shields is that none has completely satisfactorily prevented the contents of the can emerging therefrom immediately upon puncturing or piercing thereof from traveling lengthwise of the opener onto the hand of the user. Among the other disadvantages of the prior openers is that they have often not been sufficiently inexpensive.

According to my invention, I provide a can openershield combination in which the shield is made of but one piece of resilient material and requires no rivets or the like for securing it to the opener. The shield is so formed and so positioned when mounted on the opener as to prevent completely the splashing or spurting of the contents of a can to be opened onto the hand of the user even during the initial can-piercing operation of the opener. The shield of course also prevents the subsequent spurting and splashing as do a number of the shields of the prior art. To accomplish the first object, namely, control of the contents emerging from the can immediately upon initial puncturing thereof, I have designed the shield of my combination so that it resiliently engages and spans the upper face of the can-piercing member of the opener during initial piercing of the can and only engages the can and is sprung away from the ice 2. Fig. 3SiS H. similar. side'elevation show-ing the opener at the intermediate stage one can-opening operation; Fig. 4 is asimilarsidefelevation showing the opener in a'later stageiof the opening operation; and i Fig. 51' isa perspective view of the shield-alone. The can opener comprises-a conventional can-piercing member having a rim-engaging. member 1-1 normally formed integrally therewith. The outer end 12 of member 10 is pointed in order to pierce the top of a can, for

0 example, can 1am Eigsi 2, 3 and-4 whenthe opener is can-piercing member during the latter portion of the opening operation. The shield does, however, extend beyond the tip of the can-piercing member of the opener so as to prevent uncontrolled splashing of the contents in other directions during the beginning of the piercing operation.

For a more detailed understanding of my invention, reference may be had to the following specific description of one form thereof and to the accompanying drawing in which it is illustrated and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the opener-shield combination;

Fig. 2. is a side view of the opener applied to the end of a can but prior to operation thereof to pierce the can;

applied-theretoin" the manner shown with the can rim engaging member 11 in contact with the underside of the rim 14 of. the can. opposite end with a shank 16 (as shown in dotted lines in Fig; 1') which is of smaller cross! sectional size than is the adjacent portionthereof. Shank 16' is received in one end of a handle Hand held therein by a friction tight grip.- The aforementioned end of handle 17 is capped by a metal cap l8 which'also has. an opening. through which shank 16 extends.

The'operation of such a'can opener is so well known thatitne'ed-not be described in detail'other than by reference to Figs. 2 through 4 in which it is shown in varying. stages of operation. Hence in Fig. 2 it has been applied to the can but notoperated to pierce the can top; In 3 it'may-be seen that the can top has been pierced by upward movement of: the handle 1'7 and consequent downwardmovement of tip- 12' of can piercing member: 10, asa result pf pivoting about the outer tip'of member 1-1 which engages the under face oi' rim 14 of the can. Fig. 4 illustrates the relationship of the opener to the.

can substantially'at' the end of the. opening. operation.

In employing such an opener" for opening: cans of beer orthelikmitis. well known that under. certain con; ditions the contents are apt to spurt or otherwise uncontrollably emerge therefrom and soil the hands or clothing of the user or the adjacent furniture, etc. To avoid this result I provide an anti-splash shield. 20 made of a resilient material such as a spring metal. As is clear from the drawing, the shield 25) may be made from a single piece of material and is provided at one end with an opening 21 through which shank '16 of the can-piercing member 10 extends. Opening 21, however, is not of sufiicient size to receive therethrough the portion of member 10 adjacent shank 16. Hence shield 20 may be firmly secured to the opener by having portion 22 thereof, which surrounds opening 21, firmly held between cap member 18 of the handle 17 and the shoulders of member 10 adjacent shank 16. To further rigidize this support of shield 20, portion 22 thereof is provided with a flange 23 which extends around and engages the lower portion of the forward edge of cap member 18.

The other end 24 of shield 20 is fan-shaped and is provided with depending flaps 25 extending along its opposite lateral edges. Fan-shaped portion 24 of shield 20 is of more than sufficient size to completely overlie any hole formed by piercing member 10 in a can. its rear edge is normally resiliently urged into contact with the upper face of piercing member ll; whereby the two in cooperation with one another form a barrier preventing any material that spurts out of the can from passing in the direction of the handle. As the most violent emergence of the contents of the container occurs during the initial portion of the piercing operation, the presence of this barrier at this time is of particular importance. During the later portion of the piercing operation while the contents may still continue to emerge from the can, the emergence is much less violent and hence the aforementioned barrier need not be maintained. Thus, as seen in Figs. 3 and 4, during the later portion of the piercing operation, flaps 25 of the fan-shaped end of the Member 10 is provided atits.

shield 20 engage the top of the can, breaking the contact between this portion of the, shield and the can-piercing member and thereby breaking the barrier. However, as can be readily understood by reference to Figs; 2 and 3, the barrier is not broken during a substantial portion of the initial part of the piercing operation.

Various changes may of course be made in the specific form of my invention herein illustrated and described without departing from the scope of my invention which should be limited only to the extent set forth in the appended claims. r

I claim: d

l. A can opener and anti-splash shield combination comprising a can-piercing member including a can rimengaging member, a handle therefor, and a resilient antisplash shield mounted on said can-piercing member and rigidly held thereon by said handle, said shield having a central arch section rearwardly of and integral with a portion overlying and normally in resilient contact with the upper face of said can-piercing member inwardly from the tip thereof and extending substantially beyond said tip, said portion of the shield at the point at which it normally engages said canpiercing member and said canpiercing member being substantially equal in width, the Width of said portion of the shield then increasing to a maximum at its outer end. V

2. A can opener and anti-splash shield combination comprising a can-piercing member including a can rimengaging member and a rearwardly extending shank of smaller cross section than the main body portion of the can-piercing member, a handle therefor, and a resilient anti-splash shield mounted on said can-piercing member and having an opening therethrough through which said shank of. the can-piercing member extends, the handle being mounted on said shank and urging the shield against the shoulder formed at the base of said shank to rigidly hold the shield thereon, said shield having a portion overlying and normally in resilient contact with the upper face of said can-piercing member inwardly from the tip thereof and extending substantially beyond said tip, said portion of the shield at the point at which it normally engages said can-piercing member and said can-piercing member being substantially equal in width, the Width of said portion of the shield then increasing to a maximum at its outer end.

3. An anti-splash shield for a can opener having a canpiercing member and a handle mounted on a rearwardly extending shank thereof, said shield comprising a unitary piece of resilient material having a central arched section, a fan-shaped section at one end thereof the inner end portion of which is adapted to resiliently engage the upper face of the can-piercing member of the opener, and a rear section having an opening therethrough to receive the shank of the can-piercing member to be rigidly held between said can-piercing member and the handle mounted thereon.

4. A can opener and anti-splash shield combination comprising a can-piercing member, a handle mounted on a rearwardly extending shank thereof, and a shield comprising a unitary piece of resilient material having a central arched section, a fan-shaped section at one end thereof the inner end portion of which is adapted to resiliently engage the upper face of the can-piercing member of the opener, and a rear section having an opening therethrough receiving the shank of the can-piercing member and being rigidly held between said can-piercing member and the handle mounted thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Seaburg Nov. 9, i954 

